There are two things that caught my attention the very minute I opened Ira Losco’s latest album, slipped the CD into the player and pressed play. The first was the picture of the singer on the inner sleeve, shot from an angle that makes her look like a giant.
The feedback we’ve been getting has been great. We took a risk and it paid off
The other was the opening song, The Way It’s Meant to be, which remains one of my favourite tracks off The Fire. As I see it, both are also quite representative of where Losco is at right now in her musical career. The photo reflects the fact that she is the biggest pop artist on the island, the song title a reference to the fact that she is finally making music on her own terms.
“I’ve always been wary of taking such a big step as I was always worried of what other people would think,” she confides when we meet up for a chat. “As time passed, I started to see things differently, which led me to change the way I looked at doing the things I wanted to do.”
The first inkling of this change was evident in Losco’s 2012 summer single What I’d Give, which saw her explore a more organic sound – altogether different from the Ira Losco everyone had become accustomed to.
With the song came a video that was also a step outside the box, resulting in a wave of hits on You Tube that guaranteed the song’s longevity and Losco’s presence on the local airwaves until the next step in reclaiming her space in the upper reaches of the local music scene.
“I believe that an artist should only be in the public eye when he or she has something in hand to offer or share with the public, be it music or a cause,” Losco explained, when asked about the relatively low profile she kept for the past couple of years. “After the Fortune Teller album, I was physically, mentally and creatively exhausted, so I decided to give myself a well-deserved break.”
By no means however, did taking a break mean that Losco wasn’t still involved in music.
“I did take time to chill out and recharge my batteries,” she smiles. “Actually, it was more a case of clearing out my head and getting over all the indecision and writer’s block that had put me under so much pressure.”
It wasn’t easy getting used to being away, but it was something that was very necessary. Being out of the public eye eventually gave her the space to think long and hard about what she wanted to do next.
“The thing is, people don’t see the other side of an artist’s life. The hectic schedule that comes with writing, recording and performing... so once I distanced myself, I could focus better on what I wanted to do.”
The break was, in fact, the spark that literally led to The Fire, as Losco is keen to point out.
“Writing this album was a release. It gave me the opportunity to let out some two years’ worth of things that just couldn’t come out before, because I just didn’t feel like writing.”
Fortunately, after some soul-searching, she rediscovered the drive, the inspiration to get back in the saddle, and the creative juices started flowing more freely.
“Once I started writing, having set myself no parameters at all, the songs started coming to me quite easily,” she says, her smile now bigger, clearly revealing a certain sense of satisfaction about the album that came out of that creative eruption. “All I needed was that little spark to get me going,” she continues, making it more than clear why the album is called The Fire.
One other thing that is openly clear about this album is that, unlike all her previous releases, it has no particular direction.
“Even before we released the album, the second single The Person I am was a clear sign that things would be different,” she says. “For this album, the idea was to write whatever I felt, regardless of the style. This is also reflected in the lyrics, which are inspired by those qualities I regard as very important in life.”
She mentions self-worth, self-confidence and hope as some examples, adding that we should all learn to appreciate the little things in life as they make it so much better. Fun is another element that is essential to The Fire.
“It was important to me that the songs would be fun to play. Over the years, the fun factor had started to diminish as my schedules became more demanding, and I was missing it badly.”
With several styles all pointing in different directions, there must surely have been some concern about the reaction of her fans. “I must admit I was concerned about how the album would be received because it was so diverse, but more so because we were doing some things that were rather daring on some level, in terms of what is going on in music right now.”
She needn’t have worried, as the feedback to the album has been more than positive. “It’s incredible that people have embraced its diversity so much,” Losco acknowledges.
“We hoped it would have as wide an appeal as possible,” she says, adding that all artists do their best to attract more listeners to their music. “The feedback we’ve been getting has been great. We’ve even had one of the album tracks, Dead or Alive, top the iTunes singles chart. I guess we took a risk and it paid off.”
With two radio chart-topping singles, two music videos and a brand new iTunes-chart-topping album in hand, Losco’s next challenge is just days away, as she steps onto the stage at the Beland Festival in Żejtun this Saturday with a nine-piece band in tow for her first full live performance since The Fire was released.
“We’re obviously all looking forward to performing the new songs live,” she confirms, “and we’re counting on everyone out there to come down and be part of it”.
Ira Losco Live in Concert is happening on Saturday at 9pm. Planet Seed and The New Victorians will also be performing. Entrance is free but donations in aid of Puttinu Cares are welcome.
www.iralosco.com